Even by the low standards of MS NOW, senior Washington correspondent Eugene Daniels’s Thursday appearance on Chris Jansing Reports was a stellar example of how not to do journalism. Daniels’s title suggests that the network views him as a reporter, but he decided to go full activist. According to him, Democrats need “to be more comfortable with power” and that the party needs to focus more on “kitchen table issues," which he somehow defined as abortion and gender transitioning children.
Reacting to the DNC’s autopsy, Jansing read a portion aloud that suggested Democrats’ problem is that they are just too smart for the electorate, “They claim Republicans are just better at politics. Quote, ‘At times it seems Democrats are trying to win arguments while Republicans are focused on winning elections. Democrats operate in an ecosystem defined by reason, even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.’ What should Democrats do with that?”
Yesterday, Eugene Daniels, whom MS NOW technically considers a reporter, reacts to the Democrats' autopsy by saying the party "should be more comfortable with the idea of power" and urges them to talk more about abortion and transing kids "When you talk about whether or not… pic.twitter.com/vXcr4RZbdT
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 22, 2026
Daniels began his response by declaring, “They should be more comfortable with the idea of power. And this is something that Democrats have been saying. I've talked to Chuck about this in the past, the idea that at the end of the day, if you are not in office, you can't do anything. And when you talk about winning hearts and minds, that is very important.”
Before anyone could wonder where the evidence for the idea that Democrats aren’t power-hungry enough is, Daniels continued:
When you talk about issues that matter to marginalized people, that is very important. But you can do those things and still win elections so that you can actually change laws and not just worry about hearts and minds. When, you know, the question about whether or not you should focus on ‘identity politics,’ like Donald Trump only focuses on identity politics, right? It is. It is the heart of the MAGA movement, right? That white people are being replaced. This conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact that, you know, brown—black and brown people are taking the jobs of folks. That is identity politics.
Daniels also claimed, “The difference is that Republicans also use—they use that with the rage, and they point it somewhere. Democrats don't do the same thing. There are some who are trying. They have been trying. But you can use ‘identity politics,’ quote unquote, as a kitchen table issue, right?”
Usually, kitchen table issues mean things like the jobs or the cost of living, but Daniels took an extremely broad definition:
When you talk about whether or not people can have access to healthy abortions—safe abortions, that is a kitchen table issue, right? Whether or not a trans kid can get the services they need, that is a kitchen table issue for families. So, it's about crafting the message in a way that actually gets to the point that Chuck and a lot of other folks say, which is people look at the money leaving their pockets, they look at the party in power, they want some change, and they're willing to flirt with candidates and with parties they haven't been before.
Daniels wrapped up by asserting that “Democrats have an opportunity and are trying to figure out how to take that opportunity but have an opportunity to actually be an answer for folks.”
If Democrats take Daniels’s advice and define “kitchen table issues” as “progressive culture war issues," they should be prepared to write even more autopsies.
Here is a transcript for the May 21 show:
MS NOW Chris Jansing Reports
5/21/2026
12:35 PM ET
CHRIS JANSING: There is another takeaway, Eugene. They claim Republicans are just better at politics. Quote, “At times it seems Democrats are trying to win arguments while Republicans are focused on winning elections. Democrats operate in an ecosystem defined by reason, even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.” What should Democrats do with that?
EUGENE DANIELS: They should be more comfortable with the idea of power. And this is something that Democrats have been saying. I've talked to Chuck about this in the past, the idea that at the end of the day, if you are not in office, you can't do anything. And when you talk about winning hearts and minds, that is very important.
When you talk about issues that matter to marginalized people, that is very important. But you can do those things and still win elections so that you can actually change laws and not just worry about hearts and minds. When, you know, the question about whether or not you should focus on “identity politics,” like Donald Trump only focuses on identity politics, right? It is. It is the heart of the MAGA movement, right?
That white people are being replaced. This conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact that, you know, brown—black and brown people are taking the jobs of folks. That is identity politics. The difference is that Republicans also use—they use that with the rage, and they point it somewhere. Democrats don't do the same thing. There are some who are trying. They have been trying. But you can use “identity politics,” quote unquote, as a kitchen table issue, right? When you talk about whether or not people can have access to healthy abortions—safe abortions, that is a kitchen table issue, right?
Whether or not a trans kid can get the services they need, that is a kitchen table issue for families. So, it's about crafting the message in a way that actually gets to the point that Chuck and a lot of other folks say, which is people look at the money leaving their pockets, they look at the party in power, they want some change, and they're willing to flirt with candidates and with parties they haven't been before. And Democrats have an opportunity and are trying to figure out how to take that opportunity but have an opportunity to actually be an answer for folks.
